WASHINGTON - The Pentagon and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have been ordered by U.S. President George Bush to coordinate treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

A White House statement Tuesday night said Bush ordered Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson to streamline the care and benefits veterans receive and report back within 45 days on progress, The Washington Post reported.

Nicholson was the chairman of a presidential task force established March 6 that included officials from eight government agencies and looked into veterans' care. One of its recommendations was that all soldiers treated at VA healthcare facilities be screened for "traumatic brain injury," the report said.

A separate commission, led by former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., and Donna Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration, is looking at longer-term solutions and is expected to issue its report in late July, the Post said.